I am planning to go with my mom and maybe MOH sister. I’ve been once before, as I converted. Know the blessings if you can, or be able to read them in Hebrew. If you can’t the mikveh lady will have you repeat after her. All mikveh’s are different in terms of observance. I’ve heard of some where they inspect your nails and pick stray hairs off you, but apparently most aren’t like that.

I also plan to go with my mother, future MIL, and a few close friends. I also went as a convert and I look forward to going again (and again…and again…and again…lol).

They all vary, but where I went and will return to was amazing and gorgeous. Very spa like. Robes, slippers, private dressing room with private bath and shower. Everything you could possibly need is there. On my conversion day they even gave me the bridal suite!

The mikvah lady will guide you though the brachot if you don’t know them. You will also get some practice dunks to make sure you are completely submerged, otherwise, it’s not kosher.

Be prepared for a stranger to see you naked…..for some reason even though I knew the mikvah lady would be there, it didnt register until I was standing there naked in front of this old lady! Maybe your mom can go in the room with you and be the one to hold your robe or towel as you enter/exit the pool.

Don’t wear any make-up there only to have to scrub it all off. If you plan to get acrylics or some kind of tips on your nails, do that after too.

I will be going to the mikvah before the wedding. My wedding is on Sunday and I will probably go on Thursday evening. Like PP mentioned, someone will be you naked. Also, when you go to the mikvah before your wedding, they will make sure you are not wearing makeup, nail polish, anything. It’s a great experience!

My rabbi is having me go the Thursday before my Sunday wedding. FI’s converison is in the next couple of weeks, so he’ll experience it first, and he’ll go again before the wedding. We’re in a Conservative community.

I don’t know why (or maybe I do), but I’m incredibly nervous. Can someone who’s been to mikvah run through the ritual from start to finish — prep included — so I feel a little less unprepared? My mother, who was in an Orthodox community, flat out refused to go before her wedding, so this is a first for us. I’m a fairly private person, and I feel nothing but dread about another person seeing me naked, much less inspecting me.

I really, really don’t want to do this, and I’d really, really like to want to do this. I just don’t know how to get to that place.

Going to the mikvah is a really beautiful thing. Can you talk to our Rabbi’s wife before you go? I’ve been learning with my rabbi’s wife for the last few weeks for my Sept wedding. I’m excited to go and plan to do it once a month after the wedding!

@MrsToB: I went to a mikvah for my conversion. After meeting with the bet din, I changed into a bathrobe in a small suite. To be immersed in a mikvah, you have to be entirely naked: no underwear, no makeup, no jewelry. I removed my earrings and wet my hair, to make the immersion easier. The mikvah was at the end of the suite, where two male rabbis stood outside a closed door with an intercom turned on, so they could hear me while preserving my modesty. A female rabbi went into the mikvah with me and turned around when I removed my bathrobe. I slowly walked down the steps of the mikvah and into the water.

On the wall, there was a large plaque with the three prayers I was going to say:

Barukh atah Adonai Elohenu melekh ha’olam asher kideshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al ha’tevillah.(Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us regarding immersion.)

Barukh atah Adonai Elohenu melekh ha’olam shehecheyanu vekiyimanu vehegianu laz’man hazeh.(Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this joyous time.)

I decided to sing them, as I thought it would help with my nerves. After singing the prayers, I immersed myself by ducking into the water and lifting my feet, so I was almost floating. Once I rose out of the water, I was officially Jewish. The rabbis all loudly sang a celebration song, before the female rabbi left to give me a moment alone in the mikvah.

In the packet that the synagogue sent me to prepare me for the ceremony, it states:

Mikveh has the power to purify, restore, and replenish our spiritual lives. It can symbolize changes in our status, sacralize new beginnings, transform us, and help us to see ourselves in new ways. Above all, immersing oneself in the mikveh allows for a very personal, private meditative experience, a place to commune alone with God.

Standing alone in the mikvah, I put my head in my hands and cried, completely overwhelmed with emotion.

I am reform and I have never been to a mikvah. However a very close friend of mine goes monthly as she is modern orthodox and has spoken to me about what an amazing spiritual experience it is to go before you get married. The thought definitely interests me but also kinda freaks me out bc I will be so out of my confort zone. My friend was also explaining to me the spiritual and healing powers that brides supposedly have on their wedding day. After thinking about it for a while it does sound like it could be an amazing experience, especially right before getting married.

I called up the Mikvah that is closest to my home. It it an orthodox mikvah and since I am more traiditonal conservative, the person who runs it has asked me to “learn” with someone before I go. I had my first learning session on Saturday evening and it was very very enlightening. There is a lot of preparation to go. Part of this includes separating from my fiance for 7 days before I go to the Mikvah.

Since this is my first time going, I am really going to try to follow what I have learned. I really want this to be a spiritual moment for me.